Scouts BSA Troop 1123

  Despite the cold weather (it got down to about 26 degrees Saturday night), 11 of us had a great time backpacking along the Appalachian trail. We particularly enjoyed the youth group campsite at Annapolis Rocks, which featured a great view of the sunset! Our embarrassing moment was a complete inability to find the bear pole closest to our campsite in the dark, causing us to go to the exact opposite end of the campsite to hang our food bag...

This month's campout took us back to Cedarville State Forest, which had many fewer mosquitos in April than it had back in September. Because we knew there would be rain on Saturday night, the troop hung up a lot of tarps to keep things dry, with special emphasis on making sure it would be possible to use campfires for cooking in the rain.  The patrols paid particular attention to cooking on this campout, with dishes such as french toast, foil packet fajitas, dutch oven cottage pie, and breakfast burritos on the menu. A highlight of Saturday night's campfire in the rain was a visit from a Scouter from a neighboring troop, who shared campfire ashes with us. There is a long tradition in Scouting, going all the way back to Lord Baden-Powell's first Boy Scout camp at Brownsea Island in 1907, in which ashes from previous fires are added to a campfire, creating a connection between Scouts of the past and Scouts today. In the morning, the ashes are stirred together and a sample col...

We had a great mini-backpacking trip this weekend along the C&O Canal. The Scouts particularly enjoyed seeing a variety of wildlife, including herons, canada geese, a pileated woodpecker...and some very hungry squirrels! One of the patrols left a closed jar of peanut butter sitting on a picnic table while participating in an activity 15 or 20 yards away, and found that within an hour, an enterprising squirrel had chewed their way through the lid. Fortunately, that peanut butter jar had been used for a meal that had already been served! Other activities included assembling first aid kits and working with a map and compass.

We didn't let the weather keep us from an adventure in the outdoors, despite lows around 22 degrees on Friday night, and snow on Sunday morning.  The campout was fairly relaxed, with lots of time for sitting around the campfire, stargazing, and playing headlamp-illuminated soccer. We did manage to work on preparations for our food drive service project, take a hike down to a stream, and cook tasty food. 

  This weekend, we had a fantastic campout at Serendipity Horse Meadows in Fairplay, MD, and earned the Horsemanship Merit Badge! The Scouts had plenty of opportunity to care for the horses, learn or practice their riding skills, and of course enjoy s'mores around the campfire. 

  The weekend of September 27 took us to Cedarville State Forest, part of our ongoing quest to find camping locations as close as possible to DC. The forest was beautiful, a mixture of mainly holly and oak, and featured an enormous variety of different kinds of mushrooms. We practiced orienteering, and learned to measure heights and widths using our bodies and a compass. There was an unexpectedly large amount of rain, but a few marshmallows were roasted anyway!

After a long spring and summer of mainly virtual Scouting activities, we had our first in-person campout the weekend of August 22! Things were a little different because of the pandemic -- everyone slept in their own tent, we wore masks and stayed at least 6 feet apart whenever possible, and we prepared our food individually. It was great to get together, and we enjoyed working on our saw and axe skills and going for a short hike.

Over the last few months, it hasn't been possible for us to meet in person, but we've still gotten some great Scouting in.  Our meetings have been conducted via Zoom, and have included activities like knot tying, lashing, and practicing first aid techniques -- plus a lot of fun games! We've also had some virtual hikes and virtual campouts, where families have gone hiking at the same time and shared photos, or where Scouts have camped in their backyards, living rooms, or with their families. Our most recent virtual hike included a photo scavenger hunt.  In addition, we've done some weeding at our chartered organization, and written cards for a nearby assisted living facility. 

This past weekend's trip to West Virginia featured hiking, good food, hot tubbing, and an early morning transit of the International Space Station! While we had originally hoped to go cross-country skiing, the weather didn't cooperate, so we went hiking on both days instead. The first day, we hiked the trails we had planned to ski on, and the second day, we took a short hike in the Dolly Sods Wilderness. Although there was no snow, we did see some spectacular views, frozen waterfalls, and chickadees right up close.  The Scouts all decided to get up early on Sunday morning to watch a transit of the International Space Station, which was extremely bright as it moved across the sky almost directly overhead. 

This past weekend was rainy and cold, but the Phoenix Patrol prevailed! We arrived at Little Bennett Campground around 4:30 in the afternoon on Friday and set up camp. The Scouts did an excellent job of putting up a large tarp over our kitchen area as dusk settled over the campsite, ensuring that they would be able to cook dinner even as rain threatened. Later on Friday evening, members of the Order of the Arrow inspected all of the Klondike Sleds and Survival Kits. Our Scouts were not missing anything from their Survival Kit, having paid careful attention to the requirements. It rained most of the night, but the Scouts were dry and reasonably cozy in their tents. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal in the morning, the Scouts were off to the morning session of Klondike Derby Stations in a light rain. I was glad to learn that they gave away their excess dry tinder and kindling to other Scouts who hadn't brought any and were struggling in the wet conditions. After three hours of compe...

This month's campout was at a private farm in Beallsville, MD, where we camped in sub-freezing temperatures and enjoyed campfire cooking. The farm's owners were kind enough to invite us for a honey tasting, where we sampled eight different kinds of honey, both locally produced and from around the world. 

The troop had a great time at the Wizard Safari Camporee , which is meant to provide a Jamboree-style experience on a smaller scale. When we arrived Friday evening, we first unloaded all of our gear and waited for a hayride (courtesy of local farmers) to the campground. There were about 1500 Scouts there, from at least 100 different units. After setting up camp, we enjoyed some time at the campfire of our lovely neighboring troop. On Saturday, the Scouts erected their gateway during breakfast preparations. Once breakfast cleanup was complete, the Scouts disappeared for the day into the many fun activities offered. A major highlight was the wood-turning station, where four of our youth made pens. Our Scouts also enjoyed the climbing tower, cooking dough over a fire, and participating in the world record carabiner chain attempt. In addition to watching the Scouts have fun and chatting with other leaders, the adults particularly appreciated the museum of Scouting memorabilia. In the even...

The troop had a great weekend at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. This was a joint trip with Troop 97B, who were responsible for the majority of the planning.  We met up at the church at 8am on Saturday, September 28, and arrived at Cape Henlopen around 11:30am. After setting up camp and eating lunch, the Scouts took advantage of a bit of free time to briefly visit the beach before walking over to the Fort Miles Orientation Building for the "Towers & Gunners" program, learning about how the site had been used during World War II to defend against the possibility of German battleships sailing into the Delaware Bay and threatening shipyards and other facilities. In the evening, we headed out to the Seaside Nature Center for a night hike, during which we saw numerous ghost crabs and experimented with using our various senses in the dark.  Sunday morning, we headed back to the nature center for an interesting program on coastal animals. The biggest surp...

Summer camp was a great success. The troop traveled to Goose Pond Scout Reservation,  east of Scranton, PA, from August 4-10. Five Scouts from troop 97G participated, joined by 6 Scouts from Troop 19. We also shared our campsite with troop 2619 from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council, which led to some great conversations and friendships.  Our Scouts participated in a wide range of activities at camp, including climbing, sailing, kayaking, archery, and fishing. Each Scout worked on four Merit Badges, and among the five of them, badges were earned in First Aid, Swimming, Small Boat Sailing, Kayaking, Climbing, and Archery. They also developed and performed a skit for the closing campfire titled, "Ask Your SPL."  The Scouts particularly liked that the camp was structured with considerable free time in the afternoons, when they could visit the various program areas and participate in special programming, or just take out a sailboat for fun. All of our Scouts l...

The girls' troop had a great time this weekend at Camp Schmitt near Augusta, West Virginia. Camp cooking was a major focus of the weekend's activities, but the Scouts also found time to enjoy the pond and work on rank advancement.  We departed from the church around 6:30pm on Friday, arriving at Camp Schmitt at about 9:00. After setting up camp, we took advantage of the clear skies to work on Second Class requirement 3d by learning to identify the North Star and understanding how and why that will allow a Scout to identify the cardinal directions. Everyone decided it was time to turn in after they were done looking at the stars.  In the morning, the Scouts, led by Anya, made delicious breakfast burritos, served with ripe strawberries and hot chocolate. It was the first time the patrol had ever done camp cooking with the propane stove, and the first time they had needed to work together to implement the three-bucket dishwashing system, so there was a lot of learning go...

Although we were forced to cut our planned 2-night backpacking trip short by one night because of the prediction for hazardous weather, it was nonetheless a great outing! We departed from the church around 10am on Thursday. Once we arrived at White's Ferry, it took some time to get organized, mainly because the restrooms were locked. Apparently the folks who maintain the restrooms were on spring break! Around noon, we were able to begin our hike.  We had five miles on the schedule for the first day, along a surprisingly well-maintained section of the C&O Canal Towpath. The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed lovely expanses of wildflowers. Georgia did an exceptional job of keeping everyone going with her positive encouragement. Scouts also worked on their map and compass skills along the way.  We arrived at the Chisel Branch campsite around 4:00, so there was still plenty of time left in the day to set up camp. The Scouts relaxed on a downed tree by the ri...

Examining Skunk Cabbage Our weekend began at the church, where the boys' and girls' troops worked together to set up all of the tents and inspect them for missing parts. After arriving at Greenbelt Park, the girls set up their campsite, while the boys went backpacking -- I believe they covered 3.5 miles on Friday evening. The girls made cozies to facilitate freezer bag cooking, and made their first camp meal (mashed potatoes loaded with all kinds of delicious ingredients -- I am hoping we can get that into a troop cookbook!). They finished off the evening with a campfire. In the morning, the boys broke camp and departed for 11.5 miles of backpacking (though I hear one Scout went 12 miles), while the girls had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal followed by a 2.5 mile hike. During the hike, they had the opportunity to work on various early rank requirements, and spent a lot of time exploring the environment. Highlights included a stop to look at skunk cabbage flowers, and a...

On Sunday, February 10, we took a hike along the Rachel Carson Greenway trail. Some members of the troop took a 5-mile hike one way, while others went out and back for a total of ten miles. Even though this trail is in a very developed area, there are parts that seem more isolated. We particularly enjoyed the numerous stream crossings over fallen trees and stepping stones.

Patterns in the ice The girls had their second unofficial campout on the weekend of January 11-13, when they had the opportunity to hike through a frozen swamp, play disc golf, and do a lot of cooking -- both over the fire and with camp stoves. Saturday afternoon it started to snow, and by Sunday morning there were quite a few inches of snow on the ground. Fortunately we were all snug in cabins! Taking a break from disc golf Lots of snow Sunday morning

Our girls had a wet weekend on their first (unofficial) campout October 26-28 in the C&O Canal National Park . Not only did it rain for more than 24 consecutive hours, but it was also near freezing on Saturday night.  Despite all that, our youth had a great time camping, building fires, eating s'mores, and getting a chance to connect with Troop and Venture Crew 255 of Chevy Chase, MD. In a fabulous bit of serendipity, they were camping nearby and invited our girls to go learn about setting anchors for climbing.